Welcome, miss. It's a pleasure to have you here in the kingdom of Drakmorya."
"Wait, what? They're greeting me politely?" Dannep wondered, confused.
Ever since Ilyss had left, she had chosen to remain at the main entrance until she was told where her room would be.
The other maids didn't take long to arrive. Dannep expected them to mock her or be harsh with her.
"After everything, that was normal, wasn't it?" she still asked herself as she watched the genuine smiles on those women's faces.
"Well, when we were told that Lady Ilyss was bringing a maid from the kingdom of Viremont, we got very nervous. We've never had one from Jhaya here before," commented the woman in front.
"We didn't know what kinds of things you liked, so we put a little bit of everything in your room," added the short woman to her right.
"Wow, you're very pretty, and your pink eyes are a unique trait. Ah, sorry, I got carried away," apologized the woman behind her.
"How am I supposed to respond to this?" Dannep wondered to herself as she looked at them.
She didn't know how to act in this kind of situation. Ever since her sisters had abandoned Layla and her, she hadn't felt that kind of affection.
"And that was 10 years ago…" she thought while merely forcing a smile.
"Oh, what a charming smile. Come on, you must be tired from the trip. We'll take you to your room," said the woman in front, grabbing Dannep by the wrist.
"Ah, my luggage," Dannep pointed out, looking back.
But to her surprise, one of the knights at the front was holding it. When he noticed she was looking at him, he simply winked at her.
"Well, well, Casanova, she just arrived. Relax," one of the maids teased with a mischievous laugh.
"Before we start, my name is Silvia. The little girl over there is Zafiro, the tall one behind her is Martha, and Yuri is still missing, but she's sick. What's your name?"
"My name is Dannep Silverline. It's a pleasure to meet you all," Dannep replied with a bow.
The women looked at each other in amusement and all repeated Dannep's bow.
"A pleasure."
"Likewise."
"At your service."
"You're making fun of me, aren't you?" Dannep asked. Though she didn't show it, she was filled with embarrassment.
"Hahaha, of course we're making fun of you. The only person you need to bow to here is Lady Ilyss, and she doesn't even like it. Come on, let's continue."
"Wasn't it normal to greet the other maids with respect? In the castle of Viremont it was mandatory… So it wasn't a standard?"
Dannep couldn't help but blush as she realized she had acted like a fool.
"Tomorrow we'll give you a tour of the entire castle so you'll know what to do. Today just worry about having dinner and sleeping so you'll be strong."
Dannep was led through the corridors of the great castle. To her surprise, in terms of decorative variety it was very limited.
It was filled with dragon sculptures and pictures of Ilyss everywhere.
"Ah, now that's what I call being egocentric on a grand scale," Dannep muttered to herself as she passed the thirteenth portrait of the demon woman.
"We didn't know exactly how large your dresses would be. When we were told you were from Viremont, we thought you'd have a sturdier build, but…"
Silvia looked her body up and down, unable to hide a worried expression.
"We'll try to get you another dress tonight and have more food sent up. And heavens, my girl, you're very thin," Silvia said.
"Ah, of course, I must need more weight if I'm going to work in this castle. Everyone here looks like this—it seems to be a requirement," Dannep thought to herself as she continued walking.
"Well then, beauty of Viremont, this is your room. I hope you like the welcome decoration," Martha said, gesturing with her hand.
Dannep's door had the word WELCOME written on it in flowers. She was quite surprised they had been able to do all this in a single day.
"Your dinner will arrive soon. I hope you like it. With that said, we'll be leaving," Zafiro finished as she turned to go.
But then she stopped and looked at the others mischievously.
"Hey, Dannep!" she shouted, catching Dannep's attention.
"See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
The three of them bowed just like Dannep had before. Apparently, they wanted to keep teasing her.
But it was strange. Dannep had always been used to being the joke of the place. Why did it feel good this time?
Without knowing why, she returned a genuine smile and then bowed like them.
"See you tomorrow," she finally said.
"Hahaha, see you, sweetie. Sleep well."
After saying those words, the women left, leaving Dannep alone with her room.
The atmosphere struck her eyes instantly. The room was beautiful.
A bed with freshly washed sheets and blankets giving off a scent of roses, two birds in a cage—one golden and the other white.
A plant by the window and several jewels hanging from the lamp.
There were even books on the little table beside the bed. There was one for each genre; they were serious when they said they added a little bit of everything.
"Wow, this feels strange… I'm not used to this…" Dannep commented as she thought about the dirty and old room she had in Cythian's castle.
This was like suddenly becoming rich. She had never had so many things in her room, nor in the church where she lived.
Well, I should bathe and change to wait for dinner.
After saying that, Dannep chose to remove her clothes, leaving her body exposed and revealing her scars to the mirror.
As she looked at them, Dannep couldn't help but think of Cythian. Every time she looked at them she did; she had come to believe that had been Cythian's intention from the beginning.
"She's not very angry, is she? Yesterday it didn't seem like much, but it could be different today. What if she hits someone else?"
"Knock, knock!"
But her thoughts were interrupted by the sound at the door.
"Ah, right, dinner."
Quickly, she wrapped herself in a towel to cover up and proceeded to open the door.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't know you were bathing."
But her calm faltered when she saw that the one standing in front of her door was Ilyss.
The woman let her eyes travel over Dannep's figure before fixing them on her eyes.
"Changeling, tonight you will dine with me."